LAHORE: The Department of Poultry Production of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) and K&N’s arranged the concluding ceremony of 1st International Conference on ‘Poultry Processing: Farm to Fork Management’.
Former President Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry Abdul Basit chaired the concluding ceremony of the conference while Vice-Chancellor Meritorious Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha, UVAS Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Nasim Ahmad, Chairman PPA North Zone Dr Arshad Hanif Chouhdary, Prof Dr Anjum Khalique, Conference Organizing Secretary Prof Dr Athar Mahmud were also present. International speakers from the USA, Canada, Thailand, South Korea, Netherland, Malaysia and China and from the poultry industry and universities of Pakistan were also present.
The conference revealed through the oral and poster presentations of ICPP that there is a lack of awareness in the consumers regarding poultry meat safety and quality. There is no regulatory authority to check and limit the use of diseased or dead birds in the wet market. Various welfare issues during transportation from farm located at a distant place to open market for slaughtering cause stress to bird and ultimately weight loss which reduce meat quality. Furthermore, harsh weather conditions and improper slaughtering of birds in wet market lead to blood residues in meat and due to untrained butchers in the wet market and blood retained/coagulated in drains cause different health hazards.
There is also lack of regulations related to withdrawal of antibiotics from meat, which directly impacts human health. There is currently no mechanism being employed to control diseases in open market. Disease stress produces darker meat which is not a consumer preference. The conference recommended that awareness should be created among ordinary buyers to purchase processed meat for healthy intake. Moreover price fluctuations can be controlled with the development of processing industry. Meat processing can be helpful in balancing the demand of supply chain, mass gathering, and creating awareness from home to home about the nutrient values of processed meat can be a better solution. The proper hygienic condition during processing chicken meat is the key in maintaining quality of meat from farm to fork.
Mr Abdul Basit said that poultry processing is the only way to solve all the issues facing the poultry industry in the country. Moreover all recommendation from experts would be very fruitful for uplifting and strengthening the poultry industry, he added. He also lauded UVAS for organizing such an informative conference in a befitting manner.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha thanked HEC and public, private stakeholders for providing financial assistance for the orginisation of this conference. He said with the joint effort of public and private sectors that poultry industry in Pakistan would flourish and the poultry industry is truly a science-based industry and has adopted internationally best practices in most of its value chains.
Later Abdul Basit along with Dr Pasha distributed shields and certificates among the organizers of the conference and different companies’ representatives. Various aspects were discussed related to poultry production & nutrition aspects of meat quality, halal slaughtering, food safety measures, capacity enhancement of academia, medicine residuals, poultry welfare during live hauling, poultry product development, shelf life and packaging, poultry meat and consumer health, rendering and waste disposal, including five technical sessions, 35 presentations on different topics and a mini exhibition were featured in the two day conference.
